1. How do you think responsibility and sustainable development are manifested in the forest industry?
2. Is there a need to take any measures to increase the responsibility and sustainability of the industry?
3. How can EU directives on environmental claims affect the sustainability and responsibility of the forest industry?
Sini Harkki, Secretary General, Greenpeace Norden
1.
– The forest industry often appeals to the possibility of replacing fossil products. However, there are hardly any fossil alternatives for the main products, i.e. tissue paper, corrugated packaging or cardboard. Wooden construction can indeed replace concrete, but our challenge to maintain safe living conditions on Earth requires not only abandoning fossil fuels but also strengthening forest ecosystems and sinks. Responsibility and sustainability should primarily focus on the procurement of raw materials and their most efficient use. Forest companies must take responsibility for both the state of nature and the carbon stock and carbon sinks.
2.
– Yes. Forest use must be adjusted to the limits of nature and climate, but voluntary commitments by forestry operators are not enough. The procurement of wood from forests of conservation value must be stopped and natural forests must be strictly protected. The Forest Act must be amended: the solidity of the wood cut in final felling must be increased, heavy thinning must be avoided, and continuous cover cultivation must be prescribed for use on fertile peatlands. The Water Act must prevent drainage that is harmful to the climate and water bodies. The main task of Metsähallitus must be to secure the carbon sink.
3.
– It remains to be seen how the regulations will be interpreted in practice. For example, pulp cannot be marketed as “pure Finnish virgin fibre” if there is no evidence that its raw material does not consist of a forest of conservation value. Nor can beneficial climate impacts be claimed if the pulp manufacturer’s raw material procurement exceeds the limits of sustainability, as is the case throughout the country, except for the northernmost parts of Finland, according to calculations by the Natural Resources Institute Finland.
Raisa Mäkipää, Vice-Chair of the Finnish Climate Panel, Research Professor, Natural Resources Institute Finland
1.
– According to forest resource data and the greenhouse gas inventory, Finnish forests have become a source of emissions, and the sustainability of Finnish wood products seems questionable in the current situation. In addition, forests that have become a source of emissions endanger the billion-euro annual business opportunities that are on the horizon in the next decade, which rely on the capture of bio-based carbon dioxide from pulp mills and bioenergy plants.
This is not only about Finland's climate goals, but also about a problem that limits the forest sector's business operations and investment attractiveness. The forest industry is facing changes, and it should be possible to turn the operating conditions into strengths in time.
2.
– Research and development work is constantly producing new innovative wood-based materials, but getting them to a profitable production stage is challenging and requires bold investments. Pioneers are needed to revolutionize the forest industry's CO2 emissions into raw materials through their investments.
Improving material efficiency, developing products with a higher degree of processing, commercializing new innovations and promoting their industrial-scale production will increase the added value of the forest industry, allowing Finnish forests to produce even more welfare with less logging.
3.
– For the competitiveness of the Finnish forest industry, it is important that environmental requirements are agreed internationally and that the requirements come into force simultaneously in different countries. Environmental legislation prepared jointly in the EU helps to avoid country-specific indicators that distort competition and guides the improvement of the sustainability of operations also in Finland. Currently, the use of Finnish forests does not meet the sustainability criteria for biomass raw materials set by the EU.
Policy coherence would promote the achievement of the set goals. For example, there is an international agreement on curbing deforestation and the EU has prepared legislation to curb deforestation, but this does not apply to all activities that cause deforestation.
Annukka Näyhä, Academy Research Fellow, Corporate Environmental Management, University of Jyväskylä School of Economics
1.
– They are seen as new, more sustainable business strategies and models, and there are examples of this in the industry, as well as new innovative players. However, high-volume products are still the focus and the change has been – taking into account the views of various societal players – slower than expected.
2.
– There is a need for action both in the forest sector and more broadly among all actors in society. The current economic model is based on continuous growth, and this is not possible within the limits of the Earth's carrying capacity. Sustainable bio-circular economy innovations and business models towards a higher degree of processing, lower resource use and a broader product and service portfolio, as well as forest management models that increase diversity in commercial forests, are central to the transformation of the forest sector.
3.
– Transparency and accuracy in assessing and communicating environmental impacts are factors that promote the sustainability transition regardless of the sector, so it is hoped that the directives will bring about concrete changes. Based on our extensive interview survey in the forest sector – which included both companies and other actors in society linked to the forest sector – the actors in the sector are calling for the measurability and effectiveness of environmental impacts in particular. It is hoped that the directives will increase a more critical and constructive discussion about these needs and actions for change, as well as, for example, the shortcomings of the widely used PEFC certification.
